Free Witchbreaker (Dragon Apocalypse) by James Maxey

living embodiment of the word.”
    “Wait... you wouldn’t happen to be the daughter of Judge Adamant Stern?”
    “I am. Was that your second question?”
    “Is it true your father hung his own mother for being a witch?”
    “Is that your third question?”
    Brand looked lost in thought. “So, I’m guessing you think you hate your father?”
    “I don’t think I hate him. I know I hate him with every fiber of my being. His sins against mankind, all women, and his own family are beyond forgiveness.”
    “He’s a captain in the king’s Judgment Fleet. He has a duty to be tough.”
    “Did he have a duty to hang his own mother? I was ten years old when my housekeeper snuck me into the public square to witness the execution. As they pulled the hood over her head, my grandmother shouted, ‘How can you betray your mother?’” She shook her head, as the memory burned fresh within her. “My father answered, ‘How could you betray your god?’ And then he gave the command to open the gallows door. I tried to scream, but my housekeeper clamped her hand over my mouth. That unborn scream... it’s still inside me. It drives me to this day. All that I do, I do to destroy the institutions and laws that gave birth to a monster so vile as my father.”
    Brand rubbed his chin. He opened his mouth, about to speak, then fell silent.
    “Is there something you wish to say?”
    “I suspect I’d deeply regret saying it. I don’t know how open you’d be to understanding your true motives.”
    “I won’t be bothered by anything you say. Your supposed insights are merely part of a circus act. The pattern so far is that I tell you something in perfect honesty, then you tell me I meant the opposite of what I just said. Now that I’ve explained how much I hate my father, I imagine you’ll tell me that means I truly love him.”
    “Oh, it’s something much more powerful than love,” said Brand. “Don’t you see? Your father has provided your template for adulthood. Your whole life has been a quest to become him.”
    Sorrow rolled her eyes. “You’re as insane as Bigsby.”
    “Your father’s a judge. His daily life is devoted to deciding who’s right and who’s wrong. Now, you’ve fashioned yourself into a judge. But you’ve gone one step further. Your father pronounces witches and heretics and common criminals worthy of death. You’ve decided that all of civilization is guilty and must be destroyed.”
    “All people are judges,” said Sorrow. “To say I’m like my father in this respect is unremarkable. We both eat bread and drink water. It’s too trivial to be noteworthy.”
    “It’s not just that you’re both judgmental,” said Brand. “You’re both so certain of your cause it pushes you to do the unthinkable. Your father hanged his own mother. You’ve hammered nails into your brain.”
    “I do what I must,” said Sorrow. “I’ve witnessed the true source of evil. Now that I can see what’s wrong with the world, I cannot shut my eyes. My father’s blind belief in the law has turned him into a monster.”
    “An interesting choice of words from someone whose legs are covered in dragon scales,” said Brand.
    His voice was calm as he said this, but Sorrow felt as if he’d grabbed her by the throat and shouted into her face. She rose. “I’m tired. It’s late. This conversation is over.”
    “I haven’t asked my third question.”
    “Your senseless speculations following your previous questions haven’t left me eager to continue speaking. Besides, it’s absurd talking to you about truth when you so openly live a lie. Bigsby isn’t the missing Princess Innocent. The king has no son named Brand. I wouldn’t believe you were brothers at all, if it weren’t for your eyes.”
    Brand nodded. “They are similar, aren’t they? I’m certain that Bigsby truly is my brother. But you’re right. I’m no prince. I’m Brand Cooper, son of Grand Cooper.”
    “Of the Cooper Barrelworks?”
    “The